"Puppy Love."(Kevin Hughes) The first cases…if that is what you want to call them, showed up at a University Lab in Wisconsin. Not many at first. Then….well, it spread like wildfire. Then another University had a break out. Then…another. A month later, over in England, cases sprung up around the University at Leeds. And that was the first lead our Team was able to really track.

It looked like some sort of virus, or prion that contained a snippet of DNA. The Vector Spread was discovered to be…kissing. Yep. Move over mononucleosis, you are no long the only “kissing “ disease. Of course, Mono leaves you tired, fatigued, and drained of energy as the white blood cells over whelm the red blood cells. When you got the old form of “kissing disease” (Mono) you were limp and exhausted. Not so with the newer version. Nope.

And…just like with Mononucleosis, you don’t have to actually kiss, just some spittle on a napkin, table top, or door handle, will work just fine for transmission. In fact, just being close enough to take in a breath (or two) of an infected person …would be enough to trigger the cascade of genetic adaptation. We were able to trace the lead from Leeds, back to a Conference on non Human Genetic Variation held at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

That led us back to a trio of Post Docs called: “The Three Amigos” even though two of them were women. So maybe the “Three Amigas?” At first they didn’t give in. They pretended not to know anything at all about the new “Kissing Disease.” But finally, the man broke (figures). I must admit, like everyone else in the room, I shared my Superiors shocked reply when she found out what they had done:

“You put dog loyalty and love genes…in…in…a virus to invade the Human Genome?!”

The guy blushed.

“Well, yeah.”

“Why? What in the world were you thinking?”

The guy looked around the room at all of us. Shrugged his shoulders once, like he was shaking a burden off of himself.

“I wasn’t. She was!”

Pointing at one of the “Three Amigos.”

She smiled back at everyone.

“Yes, I came up with the plan. It is working even better than I thought. This is marvelous!”

“Marvelous? You changed the DNA of hundreds of millions of Human Beings…without their consent…and you think it is marvelous?!”

Suddenly, because of the tone the Director of the FBI was using, it must have triggered that genetic implant. Because all Three Amigos, plus about a dozen infected people, surrounded the smiling leader of the There Amigos, forcing the Director to take a step back. It looked like a wolf pack surrounding their young. If Humans could snarl, well that is what that pack was doing. The Director changed her tone.

The smiling young woman, gave a low growl…almost a yip. The temperature in the room calmed right back down. It was uncanny to watch. Spooky. But lovable, like a bunch of puppies all got tired at the exact same moment and just plopped down out of energy.

“Yes, Director. I do. You see all we did (waving her hands to include the Three Amigos) was take the three best genes from Dogs, modify then a bit, and insert then into Humans. It is wonderful. It works!”

The whole bunch of infected folks kind of hugged, high fived, shook hands, or leaned in for a kiss…or two. It looked like a bunch of puppies slobbering over playtime. Which, I guess, looking back…is exactly what it was.

“What three genes?”

“Oh, you know, affection, loyalty, and bonding.”

The Director’s eyes grew wide. She was no dummy, and she immediately understood.

“Oh, my gosh. You basically turned people into puppies!”

This time the smiles from the Three Amigos were luminescent …bordering on beatific.

“Yes. You know how your dog is so excited to see you…no matter what …or when?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Well, now that is how anyone infected - to use your word, not mine- views the important people in their lives. Imagine that, happy to see your friends, or family, or new people with the uninhibited joy of a puppy. It is marvelous. They miss you when you are gone, and they want you to succeed. You don’t have to ask for help…they show up to help you.”

The Director felt a bead of sweat on her forehead. She so wanted to take a nap. She went to rub her temples…and her last thought was”

“How did the floor get up to my face?”

The next day, the Director awoke. Me (her Chief Aide) and the rest of the gang surrounded her bed. She smiled at us all, opened her arms, and we all immediately covered her in hugs, almost breaking the hospital bed with our combined weight. She was okay. She was now one of us. Infected.

We soon settled down enough for her to talk. Me, Cheryl, Butch and Suzie were bunched up on the bed. The rest of the team was scattered around the foot of the bed, doubled up in the one big chair, or leaning against the window. Like a pack of puppies lounging in a crate. If someone had reached up with their back foot to scratch an ear…I swear we would have all lost it. We would have broken into grins and outright laughter at the comparison. Mostly because of its accuracy.

The Director Spoke:

“So this is what it feels like. We are a pack now. A friendly pack. (Laughter). We are all going to be out of a job if this speads to everyone on Earth. What do they call this…this…infection?’

I spoke up.

“They call it: “Puppy Love.”

She smiled and closed her eyes.

“Puppy love. I like it.”

So did we.

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